Ball of Nothing

\"Master, I'm detecting more activity and life signatures now. It's a little too coincidental but I believe this is a trap to lure us in. What should we do?\" Wii asked.

Zero smiled. Finally, some solid leads to where Poseidon was. \"We'll follow them. I'm going to avoid conflict and fighting if possible. After all, I came here to talk. Do you still have the gifts I prepared?\"

Mii rolled her eyes. \"Yes. I've even checked all the enchantments you've put on them. They're still very fresh, Lily has set that aside in the inventory for you to present it to Poseidon. Do you still remember Freya's lessons about greetings?\"

It was Zero's turn to roll his eyes. \"Yes, I do. Don't worry, I don't think Poseidon is a very stiff person who pays much attention to etiquette. If Zeus is easy-going and Hades is paranoid, I think Poseidon would be a balanced person who is understanding enough.\"

Mii chose not to comment about Zero's opinion of Hades. If the God of Death heard that, he would be very sad. Still, Zero wasn't too far off the mark. According to the books, Poseidon was quite an impartial person who judged fairly and had a very strong sense of justice. He was similar to Enma in temperament and was well-respected by his subordinates. The only person Poseidon was strict and harsh with was Athena for some reason that wasn't recorded in the history books but it didn't matter because they were going to find out the reason soon enough.

\"Be careful, master. I can point out thirty very dangerous jellyfishes guarding this temple structure. From the system's scan, we cannot know the interior because of a very strong magic barrier. I have a feeling we've found Poseidon's hideout,\" Lily reported seriously and Zero grinned.

He pulled out YY and Origin once he was hidden behind a huge rock surface just a few hundred metres away from the nearest jellyfish guard. It wasn't very hard for Zero to put all the jellyfish guards to sleep. However, the difficult task came when he was up against an invisible barrier. With such an ancient temple, there would surely be traps everywhere.

\"Should I dash inside or announce my arrival?\" Zero asked.

Mii voted for announcing his arrival for a non-bloody approach but Wii thought that it might be safer to not announce his presence just in case the god harboured ill-intentions against Zero.

\"Maybe you can send a clone or a message to announce your arrival instead of doing it personally,\" Lily suggested, appeasing the sisters.

Zero thought about it and nodded. \"If something goes wrong, I'll just retreat to the lamp and make plans from there. Wii, watch my back.\"

With his mind made, the brunet swam from his hiding spot to just outside of the barrier's reach. With sonic waves, he projected his voice.

\"Greetings, Poseidon! I'm Zero, an investigator of sorts here to ask a few questions about Goddess Athena. Hades told me that if I had any more questions, I should look for you.\"

The greeting lacked finesse and class that Freya taught. Mii facepalmed hard and Wii grimaced. Lily pretended not to have heard anything and continued smiling pleasantly. The nervousness that ate at Zero's mind made him forget his prepared script and the young doctor blushed terribly, making him look like a cooked shrimp.

Poseidon wasn't expecting such a bold declaration from the young lad. The name Athena made his earlier passive attitude change. Initially, he wanted to evacuate the entire palace and buy time while he entertained this intruder but after knowing Zero's intention, he called off all the arrangements. This child had the nerve to bring up Athena's name after so many years... anyone who disturbed his niece's peace would be regarded as a menace.

\"Carlsen! Prepare to counterattack. Nobody mentions Athena's name and gets away with it. Transform the sea temple into a fortress, if this lad wants information, he will have to work for it to prove his sincerity. Send a messenger to let him know that he should return in three days to take the trials if he wants to meet me. I'm not going to go easy on him...\"

The armoured turtle was rather surprised to see a change in attitude in his master but he couldn't mull over it for too long. Being able to fight alongside his master till the bitter end was much better than being sent away forcefully. Whoever this boy was, the turtle was secretly thankful for his announcement.

Outside the sea temple, Zero spotted an unarmed and non-hostile shrimp carrying something that looked like a magic crystal. The shrimp struggled with the weight of the stone but carried out its mission to the best of its ability, delivering the object to Zero's open palm.

The magic crystal played a voice message and Zero took notice of Poseidon's voice. He didn't sound very good and Zero frowned. As a doctor, he didn't have to physically see his patients in order to assess their conditions. Even if Poseidon's voice was laced with anger, he couldn't hide the weakness and lack of vitality in it. Now, Zero had more than one reason for visiting the fallen god. If going through Poseidon's trials was all it took to grant Zero an audience with the titan, then Zero would wait patiently for three days.

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On the third day, Zero visited the sea temple again. This time, it was looking more like a transformed fortress. The young doctor wondered who the mastermind behind this great engineering was. The sea temple that resembled the House of Great Gods before now looked a little like the Pharaoh's Crypt. There was no doubt about the traps installed in the modified structure. Zero didn't know what the trials were but he certainly hoped that it didn't involve him needing to kill anyone.

\"Halt!\" Poseidon's voice resounded from the sea temple fortress. Zero stopped in his tracks and moved no further. He was currently at the entrance of the fortress and was about to use echolocation to map out the interior when he was made to stop.

\"Before you attempt the trials, state your purpose of visit and who sent you.\"

Zero smiled. \"I'm here to investigate the reason behind Athena's grudges on a quest to resolve Athena's curse on the gorgon sisters. Technically, nobody sent me here because it was my decision to carry out further investigations here after exhausting all other options. However, the quest giver is the Divine Entity of Kindness, Murvin.\"

Poseidon paused. Divine Entity? Who would the divine sister give this teenager of unknown background and identity a quest to resolve Athena's curse? Who exactly was this boy? How did he come to be involved in this matter? With Zero's answer, Poseidon only became more confused. However, something told him that this boy wasn't here to harm them. True, the intruder might have taken out some of the beasts residing on his planet but Poseidon didn't take that as a sign of hostility. If anything, it might be in self-defence. Still, he wasn't going to invite someone suspicious into his territory for some tea. He would test this lad and observe him for a little longer.

\"Before you enter my labyrinth of trials, there are some rules you have to abide by while you are in my territory. Failure to adhere to them can be taken as a sign of provocation and I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand. Any questions?\"

Zero shook his head and Carlsen informed Poseidon about it. Satisfied, the God of Oceans laid his conditions.

\"One, you must not destroy any structure once you are in my temple. Two, you must not hurt or kill any of my subordinates who are sent your way. Three, you may not speak of anything you see, hear, know or do while you are on my planet. Is that clear?\"

\"Yes, sir!\" Zero saluted, much to Carlsen's amusement.

\"The boy is interesting,\" he told Poseidon who grunted.

\"You won't be saying that very soon when I send you out to lead the last formation.\"

The armoured turtle simply laughed and reassured Poseidon that the young lad wouldn't make it that far. From what he saw, Zero was still very young and naive. Someone like him wouldn't be able to deal with tactics and strategies even if he was powerful. Unlike Zeus who flaunted his might and Hades who excelled with the book, Poseidon was a brilliant warrior who taught Athena everything she knew from combat, magic, strategies and tactics. After all, it was Poseidon who led his brothers to unite the titans of Olympia and helped them reign for many years. It was easy to forget the usually passive and silent god who didn't really stand out or have any major accomplishments of his own.

Zero entered the temple and was immediately amazed by the complexity of the layout. Even with Mii's map and echolocation, there were so many things to look out for other than traps. The floors and walls were constantly moving in a pattern that Zero found it hard to understand. Wii was working very hard but the lack of experience and knowledge of such formations in a battle proved to be challenging for Zero.

Usually, the young doctor would find himself going through the loopholes whenever he was in a tight spot. This time, he was like a resting pheasant in the open field. The young doctor had never felt so helpless or vulnerable. The conditions Poseidon made him agree to was restricting many of his options. Zero also didn't want to resort to extreme measures because he still wanted to buy Poseidon's trust.

\"Zero, move three steps backwards. The wall should be blocking off this road any moment now,\" Mii advised and Wii worked on some advanced calculations. While Zero was observing his surroundings and giving his mindscape assistants feedback about the changes in the pattern of the terrain, his assistants were working overtime to find a pattern in the formation.

Mii was lucky to find the strategy used similar to a war simulation game that was popularised by wise men. Zero might not have noticed it yet but the walls and floors moved in sections. They had limitations and only moved in a sliding pattern on the same level. Not all walls can move at the same time and Wii understood that there were actually a few empty spots within these walls that allowed the master of this maze to shuffle the positions while the rooms behind the one Zero was in remained out of sight.

\"Take the left turn and walk to the second room,\" Mii told Zero who obeyed. He didn't trust himself to swim yet because of how everything was moving around him. Zero didn't want to lose his feet to a moving wall right now so his progress was slower than normal. He did cast some light magic to make his movements lighter and wondered if there was a way to go through the walls without actually damaging the structure.

\"Don't think about it,\" Mii scolded. \"It still counts as destruction if you make a hole through the walls and reconstruct it back after.\"

Zero pouted and looked up. \"If only there was a gap up somewhere that I could swim through... solving this maze pattern puzzle will take forever! Who knows how many more trials await us in these turbulent waters...\"

Wii blinked. \"Turbulent?\"

Zero nodded. \"There are many underwater currents here. It's very hard to swim. I don't even know when the next random current will sweep me away, I don't want to smash into a moving wall.\"

The sisters looked at each other and rejoiced. \"Zero! Follow the flow of the current. This has nothing to do with the walls... we're overthinking things. The current will lead you to where the empty room is and tell you where the next wall should open up. If you follow it, it will eventually lead us to an exit somewhere.\"

Zero quickly followed their instructions and stuck close to the wall where the underwater current was pushing him to. He waited patiently until the sound of rumbling stopped in other rooms. True to what Mii said, the wall soon slid open and Zero let the new underwater current take him away to the next destination. He felt like seaweed going with the flow but didn't complain. This was a lot easier than having to use echolocation every single time and remapping the rooms every five seconds.

Within twenty minutes, Zero found himself in a room with an opening that led upwards. Zero rejoiced and proceeded to the next floor for his new trial without hesitation.

From the top of the fortress, Poseidon and Carlsen watched the young boy clear the first level with ease. Despite struggling a little at the start, the young lad was quick to catch onto the hidden intentions of that maze level. His ability to place faith in the water currents and go along with the flow while being always prepared against possible dangers made the God of Oceans have a slight change in opinion about him.

Carlsen also noticed a slight change in his master's mood. Zero definitely aced the first round with flying colours but the armoured turtle wasn't so sure about how he would fare in the second round. After all, the second round tested not just courage but also wits and adaptability. It was a trial that even seasoned warriors can be found struggling with. Tenacity and luck alone wouldn't be enough to clear this stage and Poseidon found himself wanting to know if Zero really had what it took to resolve Athena's regrets that not even he could.